Girl Scouts Go Hi-Tech With 2014 Cookie Sales

NORTH TEXAS (CBS 11 NEWS) – It’s that time of year again — Girl Scout Cookies go on sale this weekend.

Every year, the program adds new technology to make it easier for Girl Scouts to sell cookies, and for customers to buy them.

The days of checks and ‘cash only’ are gone. This year, the Girl Scouts will use a smartphone app to charge customer credit cards.

They’ve also got a “cookie locator” app, so people looking for the traditional cookies can find the nearest locations – while they’re on sale for the next five weeks.

Girl Scout Abby Rosemann has sold cookies for the past eight years. She says the app for credit cards will be handy for the cookie program. “You have a phone with a swiper. You swipe the card. It makes things a lot easier. We’ll sell more cookies.”

Sales from the cookie program go to support local Girl Scout Troops.

Fort Worth area product sales coordinator Judy Treacy said the girls have readily adapted to the new technology, with much success. “You have to know what girls know today. They’re very tech savvy,” Treacy said, adding that the technology also makes it harder to say no, “This is one way that the girls can capture a sale without someone saying, ‘I’m sorry I don’t have cash today.’”

The Girl Scouts have also added a new cookie to the lineup: the Cranberry Citrus Crisp. It’s a healthier cookie, made with whole grain and less sweetener.

Cookies across the Metroplex are $4 a box, up from $3.50 last year. This year’s sale runs January 10 through February 23.

Jennifer anchors the weekend morning edition of CBS 11 News, and reports for the morning show on weekdays. She joined CBS 11 News in September 2013. For her, the move is a return home. Jennifer spent eight years of her childhood in Dallas before...